Rochester, NY - Robert Morris University men's hockey returns to Rochester for the fourth consecutive season. The No. 4 seed Colonials are set for a semifinal faceoff with No. 1 seed Canisius at 4:35pm, while No. 2 Air Force takes on rival service academy, No. 3 Army West Point at 8:05pm.
Robert Morris has the top 3 scorers in Atlantic Hockey in
Brady Ferguson (21-34-55, 6th in NCAA),
Daniel Leavens (14-32-46) &
Alex Tonge (19-23-42). Freshman goaltender
Francis Marotte is second in the nation with a .933 save percentage and tenth with a 2.08 goals against average.
Eric Israel is the leading scoring defenseman in Atlantic Hockey (8G-21A-29P), tied for 12th among all NCAA defensemen.
GAME INFORMATION
Atlantic Hockey Tournament Semifinal Robert Morris vs. Canisius
Friday, 4:35pm at Blue Cross Arena, Rochester, NY |
TICKETS
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | RADIO Online or 970 ESPN Pittsburgh
Atlantic Hockey Tournament Semifinal Air Force vs. Army West Point, Friday 8:05pm
Atlantic Hockey Tournament Championship, Saturday, 7:05pm
Robert Morris Game Notes (.pdf)
Canisius Game Notes (.pdf)
NO. 4 ROBERT MORRIS COLONIALS AT A GLANCE
OFFENSE
Goals per game: 3.22
Leading Scorer:
Brady Ferguson, 55 points
DEFENSE
Blocks per game: 13.31
SPECIAL TEAMS
Power Play %: 22.5
Penalty Kill %: 84.4
GOALTENDING:
Francis Marotte, 2.08 GAA, .933
Dalton Izyk, 2.86 GAA, .904
The Class of 2017 seniors are one of the most successful classes in program history. The Class of 2017 has 88 wins to its credit, breaking the Class of 2016's 87 win mark. The seniors have won three conference crowns (two regular season, one postseason) as well as a pair of Three Rivers Classic titles.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Robert Morris enters championship weekend after winning the quarterfinal series 2-0 (6-3, 3-2) over Holy Cross in the first-ever meeting in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament between the two programs. The Colonials had a first round bye.
CHAMPIONSHIP SNAPSHOT
RMU won the Atlantic Hockey regular season championship in the 2014-15 & 2015-16 seasons, following the program's first trip to the NCAA tournament, winning the AHC tournament championship in 2013-14.
PLAYOFF HISTORY
Robert Morris is 18-17-1 overall in postseason play
(tie in CHA consolation game, 2010). RMU has appeared in three Atlantic Hockey semifinals and all three have gone to overtime: a 5-4 win over Niagara in 2013-14, a 4-3 loss to Mercyhurst in 2014-15 and a 2-1 win over Army in 2015-16. The Colonials and Canisius last met in the postseason in 2014, when the Colonials won 7-4 to advance to their first NCAA tournament game. The playoff record for the current senior class is 11-5.
TOP FORWARD TRIOS (Most Points in NCAA)
172 – Zach Aston-Reese, Dylan Sikura, Adam Gaudette (Northeastern)
161 – Mike Vecchione, Spencer Foo, Sebastian Vidmar (Union)
143 – Brady Ferguson, Alex Tonge, Daniel Leavens (Robert Morris)
142 – Tyler Kelleher, Michael McNicholas, Jason Salvaggio (New Hampshire)
DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS
Lewisville, Texas native
Brady Ferguson is the NCAA's second highest junior in career scoring, behind only UMass Lowell's C.J. Smith. Ferguson ranks 6th in the NCAA in scoring this season with 55 points in 36 games, 5th overall with a 1.53 points per game average. Ferguson has tied the RMU single-season scoring record set last season by
Zac Lynch '16 (55 points).
KEEPIN' IT 100
Senior forward
Daniel Leavens reached the 100 career points mark in RMU's win at Niagara on Feb. 25. Leavens becomes the 10th player to acheive the 100 point milestone. Leavens has since surpassed
David Friedmann '16 and is now 9th on the RMU all-time scoring list with 105 points. Junior forward
Brady Ferguson reached 100 career points in his 99th career game (Jan. 28 at Holy Cross), the fastest player to reach 100 points in RMU history (passing Chris Margott '09, 102 games).
HE'S THE MANN
Senior defenseman
Rob Mann is 14th in the NCAA (2nd in AHC), averaging 2.26 blocked shots per game, 13th among free agent defensemen. Mann is 16th (2nd in AHC) overall with 77 blocks in 34 games played.
THE KILLERS
RMU's penalty kill is 14th in the nation at 84.4%. After allowing 10 power play goals in the first 4 games of the season, the Colonials have only allowed 18 power play goals since, ranked 5th nationally in that span. RMU has successfully killed 88.0% of penalties in the last 32 games (132-for-150). The Colonials have also tallied nine shorthanded goals, tied for 2nd nationally.
MAMA SAID SHUT YOU OUT
Robert Morris is the first team since the 2011-12 season to have three goaltenders each record a shutout in a single season. Freshman
Francis Marotte posted two shutouts (Dec. 29 vs. Ferris State, Jan. 6 vs. AIC), junior
Andrew Pikul recorded his career first on November 26 vs. Dartmouth, and
Dalton Izyk made his 6th career shutout at Holy Cross Jan. 28. RMU is the 6th program since 2000 to have all three goalies record a shutout.
TOP TENDIES
Atlantic Hockey is stacked with the nation's top goaltenders. Canisius senior Charles Williams leads the nation with a .946 save percentage, while Army West Point's Parker Gahagen (.933) and RMU's Marotte (.933) are tied for 2nd. Air Force's Shane Starrett is 12th (.924). The same four goaltenders are 2nd-5th-6th-10th in goals against average, Williams (1.75), Starrett (1.99), Gahagen (2.03), Marotte (2.08).
POWER UP
RMU's power play is 7th in the nation & 1st in Atlantic Hockey (22.5 %). Robert Morris leads in the league in power play goals with 42, tied for 5th in the NCAA and average 1.17 PPG per game. RMU's 42 power play goals account for 36.2% of the team's goals.
ONE-TWO PUNCH
Alex Tonge is tied for 7th in the NCAA in power play goals with 11, while Ferguson is tied for 15th with 8. Ferguson is also 3rd nationally in power play points with 27 and Tonge is tied for 9th with 21 power play points. Tonge has set a new Colonials single-season record with his 11 power play goals (surpassing Chris Margott, 10 PPG, 2008-09).
HOME AWAY FROM HOME?
RMU has scored the bulk of its goals away from home, tied for 13th in the NCAA in road goals with 56, while only scoring 49 goals on home ice (37th). RMU is 4th in neutral site tallies with 11.
SENIOR SUCCESS
Dalton Izyk has the highest career winning percentage of any senior among active goaltenders (.712)
SCOUTING THE FIELD
NO. 1 CANISIUS GRIFFINS
Ranked #20 in USCHO Poll
This Season: RMU 0-1-1 (L 6-3, T 2-2)
All-Time Series: RMU 15-8-3
OFFENSE
Goals per game: 2.76
Leading Scorer: Dylan McLaughlin, 32 points
DEFENSE
Blocks per game: 13.11
SPECIAL TEAMS
Power Play %: 21.1
Penalty Kill %: 87.5
GOALTENDING: Charles Williams, 1.75 GAA, .946
NO. 2 AIR FORCE FALCONS
Ranked #17 in USCHO Poll
This Season: RMU 1-1 (L 6-2, W 2-1)
All-Time Series: RMU 15-15-2
OFFENSE
Goals per game: 3.24
Leading Scorer: Jordan Himley, 31 points
DEFENSE
Blocks per game: 13.29
SPECIAL TEAMS
Power Play %: 18.2
Penalty Kill %: 89.6
GOALTENDING: Shane Starrett, 1.99 GAA, .924
NO. 3 ARMY WEST POINT BLACK KNIGHTS
This Season: RMU 1-1 (W 2-1, L 2-1)
All-Time Series: RMU 11-5-4
OFFENSE
Goals per game: 2.78
Leading Scorer: Conor Andrle, 28 points
DEFENSE
Blocks per game: 13.97
SPECIAL TEAMS
Power Play %: 14.9
Penalty Kill %: 86.5
GOALTENDING: Parker Gahagen, 2.03 GAA, .933
Cole Bruns, 138:50 min. (4 GP, 2GS) 1.30 GAA (3 goals allowed, 56 saves, 59 shots), .949 sv%
Highlights of Saturday's 3-2 Quarterfinal win over Holy Cross
Highlights of Friday's 6-3 Quarterfinal win over Holy Cross
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